Apparatus, such as a drawing unit or a calender dryer

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to an oil circulation indicating instruments which comprise a housing, a plurality of boreholes angularly disposed within said housing in an upwardly-downwardly direction, said boreholes communicating at their lower end with a common channel disposed in said housing, additional boreholes communicating with each of said angularly disposed boreholes and with the elements to be lubricated, a movable float means disposed in each of said angularly disposed boreholes and adapted to be raised to a point above said additional boreholes or lowered to a point below said additional boreholes, and a central lubricant supply pipe communicating with said common channel for the introduction of the lubricant thereto.

United States Patent Fleissner 1 June 27, 1972 [54] APPARATUS, SUCH AS ADRAWING UNIT OR A CALENDER DRYER Heinz Fleissner, Egelsbach, nearFrankfurt am Main, Germany Inventor:

Assignee:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 20, 1969 Germany ..P 19 42330.4

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1906 Graham 184/96 5/1907 Hill..137/559 X l/l924 Adams ..137/559 X 1,730,127 10/1929 Davenport..l16/117.2 3,038,495 6/1962 Fortin 137/559 FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 361,493 5/1906 France ..116/1l7.2 117,432 9/1943 GreatBritain ..184/1 C Primary Examiner-Manuel A. Antonakas Attorney-Craig,Antonelli & Hill [57] ABSTRACT The present disclosure relates to an oilcirculation indicating instruments which comprise a housing, a pluralityof boreholes angularly disposed within said housing in anupwardlydownwardly direction, said boreholes communicating at theirlower end with a common channel disposed in said housing, additionalboreholes communicating with each of said angularly disposed boreholesand with the elements to be lubricated, a movable float means disposedin each of said angularly disposed boreholes and adapted to be raised toa point above said additional boreholes or lowered to a point below saidadditional boreholes, and a central lubricant supply pipe communicatingwith said common channel for the introduction of the lubricant thereto.

7 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEnJum m2 3,672,467

jnvenfar HEINZ FLElSSNER BY C aig, Anl'bnelli Stewart ATTORNEYSAPPARATUS, SUCH AS A DRAWING UNIT OR A CALENDER DRYER BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus, such as adrawing unit, a calender dryer or the like, which is part of acontinuously operating processing line, for example, a synthetic fiberproduction line. The individual bearings of the line are connected witheach other by lubricating boreholes and are constantly oiled by means ofa circulating forced lubrication.

The constancy of performance of a machine with this kind of lubricationdepends on the reliability of each individual lubricating assembly. Itis a well known method to control the forced lubrication by controllingthe oil pressure which is indicative of the correct functioning of thelubricating system and which can be read on the pressure indicators ofthe lubricating assemblies. However, this method does not permit thedetection of a failure of the circulating lubrication at one specificbearing which may possibly entail the stoppage of the entire machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to avoidthe prior art disadvantages in providing a reliable lubricatingassembly.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a means forclosely watching each individual point of lubrication of, for example, adrawing unit, a calender dryer or any type of apparatus which reliesupon lubrication for its operation.

Other objects and further scope of applicability of the presentinvention will become apparent from the detailed description givenhereinafter; it should be understood, however, that the detaileddescription and specific examples, while indicating preferredembodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only,since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope ofthe invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from thisdetailed description.

According to the present invention it is suggested to equip eachindividual point of lubrication with an indicating instrument. Thisapproach is taken to ensure that not only all points of lubricationtogether, but each individual bearing, can be provided with a sufficientsupply of oil.

The indicating instrument can be, for example, an upwardly inclined tubethrough which the lubricant is conveyed in an upward direction and whichcontains a float body which is visible from the outside of the apparatusand which moves in dependence upon the circulating lubricant.

According to the present invention this device is simplified in such away that the tube is a borehole in a solid box, the bottom section ofsaid borehole being provided with an inspection window.

According to the present invention it is advantageous if the borehole inthe solid box is inclined in the upward direction with its lower partpenetrating the front side of the box. The

thus created opening in the wall of the box is then covered by atransparent plate. The present invention also contemplates providingeach individual point of lubrication of the machine with a borehole. Theboreholes are connected with each other by a channel. The main lubricantsupply pipe terminates in said channel.

It is another feature of the present invention to design the I floatbody in the borehole as a ball. This form of construction has proven tobe especially advantageous.

Apart from the spacial distinction of the individual points oflubrication, it is also possible to use different colors for the lowersections of the boreholes and for the float bodies of the individualpoints of lubrication. This will enable the operating personnel toimmediately detect any possibly occuring failure of the lubricatingsystem.

The indicating instrument according to the present invention isextremely advantageous because it is simple and reliable and pennits theclose supervision of each individual bearing of the machine.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will become more fullyunderstood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and theaccompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only andthus are not limitative of the present invention and wherein,

FIG. 1 shows the indicating instrument with the lubricant beingstangnant, and

FIG. 2 is a section along the line II-Il, through the instrumentaccording to FIG. 1, with the lubricant flowing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the above figures, thecipher 1 marks a solid box in which upwards and downwards movable balls2 are at rest in the lower sections of boreholes 3. The boreholes areadjoined to the individual points of lubrication of the machine. Theboreholes 3 penetrate the front wall of the box 1-. The openings, whichare provided in the front wall, are covered by a transparent plate 4which is fastened to the front wall of the box, absolutely oil-tight. Acentral lubricant supply pipe 5 ends in a common channel 6. This channelextends over the whole length of the box so that all boreholes aresupplied with the lubricant which is conveyed through the boreholes 3and 7 to the individual points of lubrication by means of a pump 8.

The lubricant which is conveyed by the pump flows through the centralsupply pipe 5 into the channel 6. The lubricant pressure causes thefloat ball 2 to rise (see FIG. 2: the dashand-dot circle marks theinitial position of the ball and the fulldrawn circle marks the finalposition of the ball) and the lubricant flows through the boreholes 3and 7 to the points of lubrication.

In the case where one of the points of lubrication is not supplied witha sufficient amount of lubricant, e.g. because a pipe is clogged, thelubricant does not flow through the respective borehole 3, and thus theball 2 drops down (dash-and-dot circle) and appears behind theinspection window.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same maybe varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications as would be apparent to one skilled in the art areintended to be included.

What is claimed is:

1. An oil circulation indicating instrument which comprises a housing, aplurality of bore holes angularly disposed within said housing in anupwardly-downwardly direction, said boreholes communicating at theirlower end with a common channel disposed in said housing, additionalboreholes communicating with each of said angularly disposed boreholesat substantially the center thereof and with the elements to belubricated, a movable float means disposed in each of said angularlydisposed boreholes and adapted to be raised to a point above saidadditional boreholes or lowered to a point below said additionalboreholes, a central lubricant supply pipe communicating with saidcommon channel for the introduction of the lubricant thereto and meansto indicate movement of said float means.

2. The oil circulation indicating instrument of claim 1,

wherein the downwardly extending portion of the angularly disposedboreholes penetrate the front wall of the housing forming openingstherein.

3. The oil circulation indicating instrument of claim 2, wherein saidopenings are covered by an oiLtight transparent plate.

4. The oil circulation indicating instrument of claim 1, wherein thecentral lubricant supply pipe is provided with a pump means.

5. The oil circulation indicating instrument of claim 1, wherein thehousing is provided with said additional boreholes for each individualpoint of lubrication to be controlled.

6. The oil circulation indicating instrument of claim 1, wherein themovable float means is a ball.

7 The oil circulation indicating instrument of claim 1, wherein thelower portions of the angularly inclined boreholes and the movable floatmeans are painted with contrasting colors.

* t i IO!

1. An oil circulation indicating instrument which comprises a housing, aplurality of bore holes angularly disposed within said housing in anupwardly-downwardly direction, said boreholes communicating at theirlower end with a common channel disposed in said housing, additionalboreholes communicating with each of said angularly disposed boreholesat substantially the center thereof and wIth the elements to belubricated, a movable float means disposed in each of said angularlydisposed boreholes and adapted to be raised to a point above saidadditional boreholes or lowered to a point below said additionalboreholes, a central lubricant supply pipe communicating with saidcommon channel for the introduction of the lubricant thereto and meansto indicate movement of said float means.
 2. The oil circulationindicating instrument of claim 1, wherein the downwardly extendingportion of the angularly disposed boreholes penetrate the front wall ofthe housing forming openings therein.
 3. The oil circulation indicatinginstrument of claim 2, wherein said openings are covered by an oil-tighttransparent plate.
 4. The oil circulation indicating instrument of claim1, wherein the central lubricant supply pipe is provided with a pumpmeans.
 5. The oil circulation indicating instrument of claim 1, whereinthe housing is provided with said additional boreholes for eachindividual point of lubrication to be controlled.
 6. The oil circulationindicating instrument of claim 1, wherein the movable float means is aball.
 7. The oil circulation indicating instrument of claim 1, whereinthe lower portions of the angularly inclined boreholes and the movablefloat means are painted with contrasting colors.